Paramount Global stock rose 8% in afternoon trading on reports that Apollo Global Management had offered $11 billion to buy the media company's TV and film studios.
Paramount has been the subject of takeover speculation for weeks. Media entrepreneur Byron Allen said he offered $30 billion for all of Paramount in January and Skydance Media reportedly proposed a merger.
Controlled by Shari Redstone, the daughter of founder Sumner Redstone, Paramount is considered to be too small to compete in the streaming wars while its linear broadcast and TV operations are losing viewers and revenue.
It is not clear how eager Redstone is to sell the business at its current valuation.
Apollo is already in the TV business, having purchased Cox Media Group stations from Cox Enterprises in 2019.
Paramount reported higher fourth-quarter earnings in February, with net income of $514 million. Revenue fell to $7.6 billion.
The company’s Paramount Plus added 4.1 million subscribers in the fourth quarter, reaching 67.5 million, and Paramount cut its losses from streaming to $490 million.
